Saving Grace
by Amme Moto
Summary: He can look at his knee and see it's not shattered, but he can't look in on Shepard and see that she's not dead. For those long hours of waiting, all he has are his memories.


_**Prompt 003. Ends**___

**Saving Grace**

_The ground shakes as the platform tilts heavily on one end. It is by luck alone that I am standing behind a small partition and am able to balance on it as the platform slides. I look over to Shepard to find her in much the same position; her hand clenched around her assault rifle. I smirk; the only sign of relief I'm willing to show in such a position._

_Then an ear-piercing scream shatters all thought. Shepard's head whirls around, her eyes wide and her body poised to leap. The quarian loses her footing and slides down the side._

"_Shepard!" One hand reaches out while the other blindly claws for a grip on something to stop her fall._

"_Tali, no!" The Commander leaps out from behind her stable panel and dives after her terrified friend. "Grab my hand!"_

_For a fraction of a second, I freeze. My reflexes, which have been honed by the hanar since the age of six, fail to react at the sight of Shepard's rapid decent toward the darkness and the dead human Reaper below. A flash of a new emotion runs through my confused veins, and I am as useless as a child would have been in that moment._

_The next I step off of my own partition and go after them._

_Shepard slides down the platform as fast as she can and grasps the quarian's hand. She reaches up and snags a panel as she slides to her death, jerking both her and the quarian to a stop._

_For a moment, all movement stops, and all that is perceived is that _Siha is hanging over the side of an abyss.

_Then the moment passes, and actions are taken to rectify the situation. _

_She cries out at the weight on her strained arm, but doesn't let go with either hand, taking instead to biting her lip to quell the pain, even as the quarian hangs on for dear life and whimpers at the thought of their peril._

"_I can't hold on!" Tali screams._

_A resolute look passes over the Commander's face and the feeling—dread, the word now associated with it—swims like adrenaline in my blood. The Commander clutches tighter to the quarian, squeezes her eyes shut and grits her teeth against the pain._

_It is a look I have seen often. It is a look seen much too often on the _siha's_ face. It is a look of complete determination, regardless of pain._

"_I'm not letting go!"_

_Repositioning her grip, she pulls up with all her might, swinging the quarian up to the panel beside her. The quarian latches on and attempts to drag herself up. I reach down and help haul the shaking quarian up before leaning down and pulling Siha up. She grasps my arms as she climbs over the side and takes a breath to steady herself._

_Then the platform shifts again and is thrown the opposite way. An explosion rips through the air, and I can guess what has happened. The human Reaper below has finally died, and its fiery blast has reached us all the way at the top of the ship._

_Shepard and Tali tumble unceremoniously down the side of the platform while I manage to plant my feet and slide. I catch a panel with my feet and grasp Shepard's arm tightly. She winces—not at my grip; it is not so hard as to even bruise her—and snatches at the quarian._

_I get to my feet, pulling Shepard up as I go, standing awkwardly at the angle the platform is now at._

"_Is everyone all right?" Shepard asks. The quarian wobbles on her feet, but manages to nod to her Commander._

"_I am unhurt." I reply._

_Shepard seems to breathe a sigh of relief. "Good. Let's get out of—"_

_She stops in midsentence, jerking her head up and scanning the area cautiously. Unaware of what she is looking for, the quarian and I examine the Collector ship's interior._

_A buzzing sound fills the ears; reverberates throughout the head and causes no small amount of alarm. A platform rises up from its place beside us and plummets down._

"_Go." Shepard orders, her voice drenched in alarm. "Now!"_

_Pain bursts through the head, crawling through the spine._

_Then everything turns black._

**XXXXX**

"Hey, are you in there, Lizard Man?"

Thane blinked both sets of eyelids and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. He looked up at the tattooed woman staring at him—snarling, more like, but Thane found that normal human tendencies didn't apply to this woman, and this kind of snarl was as close to a look of curiosity as she could get with anyone other than the Commander.

"Forgive me if I ignored you, ma'am." Thane tipped his head in a placating manner. "My thoughts were elsewhere."

"We could tell." The dark male human spun his chair around to face Thane with a sympathetic shrug. "Personally, I don't blame you. These past few hours have been nerve wracking."

"Have they said anything else?" Thane inquired, glancing toward the center of the table.

A small blue sphere appeared. The ship's AI. "Doctors Chakwas and Solus have not allowed anyone inside the medbay as of yet."

Thane clenched a fist underneath the table: the only outward sign of his frustration.

"I'm sure it will be fine." The Cerberus woman interjected. "It's only been an hour or so. We can't expect a miracle."

"Of course you are right," Thane replied, rising from his seat and bowing his head to the other three in the room. "Excuse me. I must retire."

"If Lizard Man's leaving, I'm not staying in here." The tattooed woman snapped. "Catch me in a room with only Cerberus agents in it."

Before Thane left, he caught the Cerberus man shake his head. "I don't think any of us are anything anymore. Especially not after the Commander blew the Collector ship to tiny bits."

"Strange as it is to admit it, I agree." The Cerberus woman concurred. "We, all of us, are now part of Shepard's team. Nothing more, nothing less."

Thane left before he heard anything more. He made his way toward the elevator and directed it to the third level.

In this brief moment of privacy, he leaned against the elevator wall and crossed his arms.

Siha_, you should have leaned more on us._

In his head he could see Kallie Shepard stare at him calmly and shake her head. Her short, dark red hair swished back and forth. A piece caught on the wrong side, and Thane reached out to tuck it back so he could see her clearly.

The elevator came to a halt and the doors opened to reveal most of the crew huddled around the medbay, an eerie silence surrounding the whole floor. Few were watching the door with rapt attention; most were huddled in small groups, playing cards or simply trying to recollect themselves. The cook passed out soup in small portions; just a broth with herbs, really, to help settle their queasy stomachs.

Thane paid no attention to them. He wasn't going to wait around with the rest of them. Surrounding himself with such negative energy—the doubtfulness and the hopelessness and the guilt, alone—would not calm his own uneasy thoughts.

But here, inside the Life Support room, with the door closed, facing the window, he was at peace. He could almost remember a time when he sat here, staring into a much more beautiful window, without the echoes of the suppressed screams and the feverish glaze tinting those lovely eyes haunting his mind.

**XXXXX**

_The sound of metal scraping against metal is what jolts me awake. I open my eyes and sit up before the mind processes where I am, or what is happening. A large metal support beam rises from its position on the ground, and I hear the groan of life coming from under it._

_It is _siha_. I am up and next to her before my next breath. In my haste to see _siha_ unharmed, I very nearly tear the beam off of her. It lifts up just enough for Shepard to slip out from underneath it before I drop it again._

Siha_ is in my arms, holding me tightly, the moment the support beam is out of my hands. I return the gesture just as fervently._

"Siha_, are you all right?" I ask._

"_I'm fine, don't worry about me." She replies. She looked around the small hallway we've landed in. "What about you? Are you hurt?"_

"_I am not."_

"_Good." Shepard breathes a sigh of relief. "Where's Tali?"_

"_I'm over here!" Comes the quick retort. An arm waved from underneath a pile of metal. "Help me!"_

_Shepard is out of my arms and next to Tali. She pulls the metal off of her and helps her friend sit up._

"_You hurt?" Shepard asks, inspecting Tali thoroughly in case the quarian tries to lie. "Any suit punctures?"_

"_Nothing." Tali laughed. "I'm incredibly happy to be alive." She holds out a hand for Shepard to help her up, which Shepard takes with a smile._

_Static fills the ears, startling me for a moment before I realize it is the comm. link. "Do you copy? Commander? Come on, Shepard, don't leave me hanging. _Do you copy_?"_

_Siha presses her ear to hear better. "I'm here, Joker. Talk to me. Have the others made it?"_

"_Yes, ma'am. All survivors are on board. We're just waiting on _you_."_

_Shepard laughs. "I can take a hint, Joker. We're on our way."_

"_**Human, you've changed nothing." **__The voice of Harbinger, the Reaper currently out to destroy the galaxy, laughs. __**"Your species has the attention of those infinitely greater."**_

_Fluttering sounds erupt throughout the hallway, and swarms of Collector insects rush toward us._

_It is not often that dread flashes across the Commander's features, so it is a more alarming situation than before. Shepard pulls out her pistol and shoots at the massing Collectors. "Run!" She shouts. "Don't look back! Go! Go! _Go!_"_

_Thoughts of fighting our way out are flung away. We break into a dead run._

**XXXXX**

A beeping sound from the far wall ends Thane's memory.

"Mr. Krios," EDI announced from her terminal. "Commander Shepard is awake. She is asking for you."

Thane was up and out of Life Support before EDI finished speaking.

A cheering crew surrounded the medbay door, consisting of crewmates each slapping themselves on the back as if they had been personally responsible for the Commander's recovery. They make room for Thane to pass through, however, so he does not interfere with their celebrations. So long as the rejoicing crew didn't keep him from checking on his _siha_, he saw no reason to keep them from being merry.

The door closed behind him as he entered, blocking out the sound of overjoyed cries. Not that Thane would have heard them anyway. He took his time inspecting the Commander.

She certainly didn't _look _like she'd just been through hell. They sat her on an elevated cot, positioned so she sat up even as she rested against the back of the cot. She had a rather long cut alongside her face that would probably leave a light scar, and she looked as if she'd been awake for entirely too long, but she brightened up considerably when Thane entered the medbay.

"_There _you are." She stated, as if _she _was the one who'd been looking for _him_.

Thane gave a small smile at the thought and went to meet her. He traced over the contours of her face delicately, as if she'd break if he pressed too hard. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I've been shot in the gut." Shepard replied. She stopped to consider. "Forty-eight hours ago. And I haven't slept since."

Thane let out a small chuckle, loud enough for Shepard to hear. "It has not been forty-eight hours, Siha." He reminded her. "But you have been through a great deal. You should rest."

Shepard shook her head. "I need to talk to the Illusive Man first."

His hand caught one of hers and lightly squeezed. The reply was both instant and expected. "I will not condone that."

"I can't rest until I cut off all the strings attached to this suicide mission."

Thane considered. He turned to the doctors. "You would allow her to?"

"She _does _need to make contact." Dr. Chakwas stated. "But I wouldn't make it very long. I wouldn't test how long she can stay standing by herself."

The comment made Thane pause. "Is she not healed?"

"She's not fully healed, yet." Dr. Chakwas explained. "It will be some weeks before she will be in top form, but she _should _make a full recovery."

Shepard shrugged. "I'm sure it won't take that long. I'm a quick healer."

Mordin barked out a laugh. "Miracle more like it. _Allergic _to Collector ammunition. To the diotoxinate specifically. Easy to isolate; also found in varren meat. Remember reaction to that on Tuchanka?" Shepard scratched the back of her head sheepishly. "Lucky Zaeed collects guns. Studied while merc out on recon. Extract chemicals and create antidote simple enough." The salarian let out a laugh.

"And I thank you, Mordin." Shepard beamed at the salarian. "Your genius has once again saved the day." She turned to the female doctor. "You too, Dr. Chakwas. I owe you."

"You saved me first." The doctor countered. "How about we call it even?"

Shepard nodded.

"Good." The female doctor nodded her head and headed for the door. "Now, I will give you a few minutes before I let in the rest of your anxious team."

Mordin Solus looked to his left and right and leaned in close before whispering his goodbyes. "Took the liberty of healing minor skin irritations. On shoulders. And legs. And throat. And—"

Shepard looked sharply away, turning a bright red. Thane smirked as he interrupted the salarian. "Yes. Thank you, friend."

Mordin beamed wickedly. "Anytime. Will get started on making new batch of salve."

The deep red tinge spread down to Shepard's throat.

For a few moments after the doors closed, leaving Thane and Shepard alone in the room, there was an embarrassed silence. Shepard scratched at her head and refused to meet Thane's eyes.

Thane was having none of it. He took her hand in his, interlocking their fingers, prompting Shepard to look him in the eye.

"_Siha_, the doctors assure me that you are well, but I have yet to hear _you _say it. How are you feeling?"

"Chakwas said that it will take a while for my stomach to heal, given the proximity of the shot and the _allergic reaction_ it set off." She scoffed at herself. "Unbelievable. The only human in the galaxy willing to fight these things off is _allergic _to their guns."

"You haven't answered my question."

Kallie Shepard sent a mock-irritated look toward the drell, who kept his determined expression in place. Finally Shepard flexed her fingers in Thane's grip, tracing his scaly skin with her free hand. "I've got cramps. Bad. My stomach feels like it's going to explode from nausea, and every time I put any sort of weight on my legs the cramping intensifies." She shrugged again.

Thane winced. "My apologies, _siha_. I should have waited for you. Forgive me."

"What are you talking about?" Shepard asked, surprise evident on her face. "Tali was injured, and you got her to safety. I should to _thanking _you, not _forgiving _you." She shook her head exasperatedly. "That sounded bad. There's nothing to forgive. Besides," She smiled. "You pulled me up, right? You saved my life. _Again_. That means _I_ owe _you_."

She tugged Thane's hand upward, toward her face, and lightly kissed it.

"So," She asked, trailing small kisses along Thane's hand. She turned the palm upward and lightly pressed her lips to it. "What can I do to make it up to you?"

Okay, maybe she pressed her tongue to his skin a little bit, too.

No matter. The desired effect took hold; Thane's eyelids lidded and he leaned forward, pressing their foreheads together. Shepard closed her eyes and sighed at the affectionate action.

"I believe I will be able to arrange something, Siha." He whispered before taking her lips in a delicate kiss.

It was a slow, leisurely kiss. Thane kept Kallie's injury in mind at all times, and instinctively kept from pressing down on her. He combed his fingers through her hair, tugging softly at her scalp, reveling in the sounds eliciting from her mouth. He felt Shepard shiver beneath him and smirked smugly at himself inwardly.

A high-pitched, derogatory whistle broke their concentration on each other, bringing them back to reality. Thane pulled away from Shepard and looked to his left at the cause of their disturbance.

Miranda stood in front of the doorway, the rest of their squad behind her. The Cerberus operative had her arms crossed and a knowing smirk on her face.

"Go get 'em, Lizard Man." Jack called, letting out a roar of laughter.

"Well." Garrus scratched the back of his head. "I guess now we know why Mordin and Doctor Chakwas were trying to keep us out."

Once again Shepard's face flared red.

Zaeed laughed, pushing his way into the room. Once he entered, the rest of the troupe followed him. "All right, drell, you've had plenty of time with the Savior of the Galaxy. Let someone else have a turn."

The team of thirteen surrounded Shepard's bed, bombarding her with questions and congratulations and pats on the back—that stopped at Shepard's first wince and Thane's first glare—leaving Thane no time to continue his conversation with Shepard.

No matter. He contented himself to keeping a hold of her hand while she spoke, and being prideful that he was both the first to be allowed to see her and the last to leave.

**XXXXX**

"_Run!" She screams when she sees the quarian and I stall to wait for her. "Go! Head for the _Normandy_!"_

_A cold chill runs through the spine at the realization: there are too many Collectors to escape. Running is the only viable option left._

_The Reaper Harbinger continues to speak, but I don't listen. All sounds are blocked from my mind, save for those of my own footfall compared to _siha's_. _

_The ship is in sight. Tali gives an excited shout and quickens her pace. I hear Shepard do the same a ways behind me. The Collectors behind us are fast catching up, and there is every chance that they will overtake us before we make it to safety, but the _Normandy _is a beacon of hope. _We are this close, _it makes us think. _Don't let us die now.

_The ship door opens, and the pilot looks out, holding tightly onto his rifle. He lifts it up to his face and takes aim. One of the Collectors behind us drops._

_Every single window on the side of the ship facing us opens, and crew members pop their weapons out and take aim. With cries of encouragement toward us, they bombard the Collectors._

_Shepard laughs behind me. There is now a wall of gunfire separating us from the Collectors' advancement, following just behind us as we run. The chances of our survival have just gone up quite a bit._

_A stray Collector shot flies past us, striking the quarian in the calf. She falls, skidding along the ground from the force of her running. _

_I can feel Shepard's despair before I hear her actually cry out. Tali grasps at her calf and attempts to stand._

_I reach her before she can and pull herself up. I drape her arm around my shoulders and drag her along with me as I run._

"_Thank you," I hear her whisper as she tries to keep up with me. "I wouldn't be able to take the irony of dying this close to success."_

_The shouts of the crew are getting louder. I quicken my pace and hand the quarian off to one of the crewmen waiting by Joker in the entrance. _

"_Glad you could come to the party, Thane." Joker states, taking the head off another Collector._

_I can't help a small chuckle from escaping as I pull out my own pistol and take aim. "I apologize for being late."_

_Shepard is running at full speed toward the ship. The wall of gunfire has slowed considerably; the number of power cells available on the ship is rapidly dwindling while the number of Collectors advancing on her is increasing. They have started anticipating her movements; the newer additions to the enemy are appearing in front of her. I down two of them before they can land, but three more take their places._

"_Look out!" Joker cries, shielding his eyes as the large metal beam falls parallel to the ship, barely missing us._

_It lands on the bridge straight in front of the _Normandy _and crumbles, leaving a large chasm between the edge of the bridge and the _Normandy_._

_Between _siha_ and myself._

"_No!" Joker shouts, watching the Commander with rapt attention as she steadily speeds up._

_With a snap of blue haze I see her shields give out. All that is sitting between a Collector gun and Shepard's soft skin is the broken, beat up suit of armor she insists on wearing._

_Her eyes widen as she sees the large void separating her from her future. A set look takes over and her dead run actually speeds up._

_The dread from before has returned in full force. "She's going to jump it." I hear myself say._

_The crew seems to have realized this too. The barrage of gunfire has finally died, but the shouts are almost deafening. _Run faster! _they call. _You're almost there! You can do it!

"_Shepard!" Joker reaches out a hand as she nears the edge of the bridge. "Come on, Shepard! Jump!"_

_As soon as it's spoken, Shepard leaps._

_Time seems to slow. The encouraging calls from the crew rise to impossible levels, yet I can count each second _siha_ spends suspended in the air as if they were each a lifetime. Her arms flail around her as if trying to propel herself forward more._

_It does not work. _Siha _slams painfully into the _Normandy_, her arms latched onto the floor. She grits her teeth, but not before a small whine of pain escapes her mouth. She reaches out with her arms for better purchase, to pull herself up._

_Then, somehow, she is rocked backward. Her eyes widen in shock and she gasps in pain. Her grip loosens on the _Normandy_ just as her eyes glaze over._

_I reach down and drag her up to her feet. The airlock shuts tightly and Joker sprints off to man the ship once again._

_Shepard leans against me heavily, her arms laced around my neck. Her breath is shallow, pained, erratic. As if she's lost the will to stand, she slides away from me. I grasp her arms tightly and kneel on the ground, still supporting her._

_Something is wrong. Shepard has not yet spoken. She has not yet moved in the slightest. Normally she would be halfway across the ship by now, barking orders and checking on the ailing crew._

_Carefully, I lean _siha _back, cradling her head so she doesn't get hurt._

_Shepard is flushed. Alarmingly so. Her eyes are shut and her expression is set in a grimace of agony. She licks her lips in attempt to speak, but nothing comes out but a trickle of blood._

What?

_Eyes trail down Shepard's body quickly, examining for injuries and stop short at the abdomen, which has been blasted open and is bleeding profusely._

_The armor has been completely blown away on her midsection, cutting away at her clothing underneath and leaving a nice target for the Collectors. Apparently they took advantage. A giant hole pokes out from Shepard's skin, riddling the rest of her with the dark red blood of a human._

_Instead of letting panic take over, I lift _siha _in my arms and immediately exit the airlock._

"_Miss Chambers," I call. The young woman in particular looks up wearily. She cries out when she sees the bloodied Shepard hanging limply in my arms. "Get Doctor Chakwas and Mordin. Immediately."_

Siha's _eyes open blearily and gaze up at me. I am not sure if she can see; her eyes are completely glazed over, and the bright green that usually examines everything with an imaginary fine-toothed comb has dulled down and almost shifted into a blue color._

"…_.Thane?" She frowns, closing her eyes again and trying to lift her head. "What's—what—"_

"_Stay still, _siha_." I admonish as the elevator closes without my pressing the button—EDI has been kind enough to direct the elevator so I do not have to adjust my grip. "You are hurt."_

_Her breathing hitches as she tries to speak again. "Burns." She admits, shaking her head and attempting to set her feet on the ground. "_Burns_, Thane. I… I can't…."_

_My grip tightens. I know what she is attempting to say. "_Siha_," I respond, nestling close to her ear and speaking softly so no one else may hear, even though we are alone. "I refuse to accept a world where _you _accept death before _me_."_

_Shepard does not have a chance to respond to this. The elevator opens and I am greeted by both Mordin and Doctor Chakwas. Both take a startled look at Shepard and whisk us both into the medbay._

"_Set her on the table." A queasy Chakwas orders. She is still green with nausea, but manages to swallow her queasiness and focus on _siha_, which I am glad for. "Get the rest of that armor off of her. Mordin, clean the wound."_

_Neither Mordin nor myself need to be told twice. I methodically take off the arm pads and the chest plate, working downward to her leg armor as Mordin works around me cleaning the wound._

_Once the armor is torn off and the blood is cleared away, a new terror arises. _

_The wound is superficial; there is a lot of blood, but the bulk of the blast has been diverted to Shepard's tattered armor. Even the most basic soldier could fix this kind of wound and do a fair patch-up job. However,The skin around Shepard's injury has turned bright red. Dark blue veins practically push though to the top of her skin, and continue in all directions, steadily growing larger and larger._

"_What the _hell _is that?" Doctor Chakwas exclaims, her eyes widening and her grip on her tools tightening. _

**XXXXX**

Thane blinked in surprise, tightening his grip on the sleeping Commander in his arms. It was not often that he slipped into his solipsism before sleeping. Seeing Shepard so close to death must really have worried him.

Just to be sure she was still safe, Thane glanced down at the woman pressed against his chest. Her nose nestled into his sternum; he could feel her deep, steady breath as she slept peacefully away, oblivious to the world and Thane's inner turmoil.

Good. At least Shepard was getting some sleep. Thane knew he would not be getting any himself. His mind was racing. He found it hard to collect his thoughts in any sort of order.

Therefore, he simply let them fly, dealing with them as they came.

_Shepard almost died._

Yes, she had. Only the quick thinking of their salarian doctor had saved her. Had they been any later in arriving, had Mordin hesitated in his response or doubted his ability, had Thane and the others not had the strength of will to hold the _siha _down while the antidote took effect—

One _siha _had already died with a hole in her stomach. Thane wasn't sure he could handle the sight of another.

The thought made him absentmindedly run his hand up and down Shepard's spine, lightly touching the bandage wrapped firmly around her abdomen. She shifted in her sleep before wincing and coming to another halt. One of her hands came up and gripped his shirt tightly.

_Shepard was able to stand and shout down the Illusive Man._

She had not even given the slightest expression that she was in pain. Thane remembered warning her just before she contacted him.

"I will pull you out if I suspect you cannot remain standing."

Shepard, who had leaned heavily against the counter during this conversation, nodded. "That won't be necessary. I'm going to keep this as short as possible. I can keep a straight face."

Thane shouldn't have been surprised by how true that was. Her interaction with the Illusive Man hadn't lasted more than five minutes, but during that time she'd remained on her own two feet, an emotionless expression painted across her features. From the way she wobbled and fell once Joker cut communications—Thane caught her before she could crash to the floor and promptly headed to her cabin—it had been more trying than she'd let on.

When the elevator dropped them off on the correct floor, he'd helped her into her sleeping clothes and all but ordered her to go to sleep.

Of course, she'd looked at him with those large, pleading eyes and begged him to stay with her. He couldn't say no. Thane was overjoyed that those eyes had returned to their expressive natures. He'd crawled into bed with her and allowed her to nestle into him.

She'd fallen asleep shortly afterward.

_Shepard's other injuries were rather extensive._

That was true. Shepard spent the entire mission checking up on the other teams she couldn't see for herself. When she'd sent Tali through the vents for the first part of their mission, Kallie hadn't even bothered with most of the Collectors around them. She seemed solely focused on getting to the next valve control. Anything in her way was obliterated, but she wouldn't go beyond that.

The same had gone for Jack, when Shepard asked her to form the biotic field around them to bypass the swarms. Shepard's one priority was making it through without harming Jack. Shepard made a habit of going to the edges of Jack's barrier and drawing attention to herself so none of the Collectors would think to shoot at Jack.

Thane had underestimated Kalisee Shepard's resolve to keep everyone alive at her expense; a mistake he didn't intend to make again.

Pulling Tali up onto the platform had effectively dislocated her shoulder. After telling and retelling the story of their harrowing escape from the Collector base, Mordin theorized that the metal beam that landed on Shepard might have knocked her shoulder back in place.

It had also bruised her back mightily, and there was a chance she'd slipped a vertebrae; something Doctor Chakwas couldn't fix until the rest of her was patched up a bit.

While drawing so much attention to herself, her shield had been decimated; her armor was little more than broken pieces of metal now. There were small scores and scorches reaching across her arms and legs.

When the human Reaper lashed out with a claw, a long metal piece of shrapnel caught Shepard across the face, causing the light scar now reaching from her eyebrow to the opposing tip of her mouth.

Aside from the usual cuts and bruises, none of the other team members were incredibly injured. Tali's wounded calf had been patched up with a quick round of medigel and she'd spent about an hour with Doctor Chakwas, getting pumped full of antibiotics and getting her suit puncture fixed up.

Shepard had taken the bulk of the attacks, and she'd done it without being detected by the rest of her crewmates.

The thought made Thane huff with self-annoyance. He should have been more watchful. He should have _known._

Maybe this ending could have been avoided if he'd been more observant.

**XXXXX**

"_Oh, dear." Mordin states. "_Knew _something like this might happen."_

"_What?" I press. I grasp Shepard's hand tightly. She returns the grip as firmly as she can. I can barely feel the pressure exerted. "What is happening?"_

_The dark lines are racing up Shepard's chest, underneath her clothing, down her arms._

"_Reacting to something in Collector gun." Mordin clarified, darting across the medbay and searching through the nearby chemical cabinet. "Seen symptoms before. Different place on body; not as much blood, but the same. I think."_

"_What are you talking about?" Doctor Chakwas asked. "That this is an _allergy_?"_

"_Precisely. Remember allergic reaction to varren meat? Happened like this, too. Not as serious. Still made an antidote. Might work." _

"_I will retrieve it." I volunteer. _

_Shepard's grip tightens imperceptibly; she is probably using all of her strength, yet any change is so miniscule I almost don't even register it. I turn my attention to the fading Commander._

_Her eyes are hooded as she looks about. I am not sure she knows where she is. She tries to sit up._

"_Stay down, _siha_." I plead, pushing her back. "Do not hurt yourself any more than you already are." _

_Mordin looks up sharply and blinks. "No, no-no. Antidote already made won't work. Used for everything typically associated with varren. Won't have an effect." The salarian doctor looks up. "EDI. Pull up components of Collector artillery."_

"_Of course, Doctor." The computer screen fills with information. Mordin sets on it. _

"_Found it!" Mordin cries. "Allergic to the diotoxinate. Antidote simple to make." He frowns and scratches his chin. "Much more diotoxinate in ammunition than varren. Must escalate amount used. Could cause problems." He turns his attention to me briefly. "Need helpers. Three others."_

_I bow my head and turn to leave, slipping my hand out of Shepard's; it is not hard, she is growing pale and her grip is extremely weak. The door opens to the rest of the crew living quarters._

_The medbay doors are surrounded by the entire team. The remaining crew huddles behind the group of eleven._

_Jack is in the front. She crosses her arms and glares. "What's wrong with her?"_

_I am in no mood to explain. "Commander Shepard was shot. She's not doing well."_

"_Not doing well?" Garrus repeats, his mandibles twitching in annoyance. "Let me in."_

_I step aside. The turian stalks through the open passageway immediately. "Of course. Jack, Zaeed, please join us."_

_The male mercenary raises his eyebrows at the invitation but pushes to the front of the crowd. Jack doesn't argue. She is through the medbay doors before I finish speaking._

_I close the doors right after, not willing to answer questions at the moment. I can hear groans and pounds on the medbay doors. I ignore them._

_While gathering assistance, Mordin has disappeared back to his lab and Doctor Chakwas has hooked _siha _up to a machine that reads her vitals and is administering medigel to the wound on her stomach. Jack and Zaeed watch from a distance. Neither appears to want to get in the way, for which I am grateful._

_Garrus has taken one of Shepard's hands in his talons. He rests his other palm against her forehead and hisses. "What happened?"_

"_According to Mordin, she's had an allergic reaction to the Collector ammunition." Chakwas explains, keeping her eyes on Shepard's vitals._

_Jack barks out a laugh. It is a laugh of disbelief, filled with irony but not disrespect, so there is no offense. "You're serious."_

"_Finished antidote." Mordin appears at Jack's side, making the biotic jump._

"_If you're finished, what do you need us for?" Zaeed asks, crossing his arms and huffing at the salarian._

_The doctor takes a deep breath. "Need to hold her down."_

_I can feel my neck flare out, and send an angry glare toward the salarian. "I beg your pardon?"_

"_Antidote painful enough in regular amounts." Mordin explains as he crosses the room, carrying a bottle of dark liquid with him. He stops by Shepard—the sweating, shallow-breathing, fading _siha_—and shakes his head. "Must increase the dosage. Too much spread too far."_

"_You could kill her!" Chakwas shouts._

"_Can counteract overdosage afterward." Mordin maintains. "If quick enough… and vigilant enough."_

"_You sure about this, doc?" Jack asks. "I'm not sure Cerberus believes in third chances."_

"_Not sure." Mordin admits. "But more sure than doing nothing."_

"_She'll definitely die if he doesn't do it." Zaeed barks, reaching down and grasping Shepard's foot. "So do it."_

_Jack takes her spot at Shepard's remaining leg, looking uncertain, but latches onto the _siha's _leg and holds on. Garrus tightens his grip on Shepard's hand and rests his other on her arm._

_Everyone turns to me._

"_Mordin, if you kill her…." I do not even finish my sentence. I link fingers with Shepard and give a light squeeze._

_She returns the gesture, however weakly. _

_I close my eyes, giving a swift prayer to the goddess Arashu. "…Do it."_

_Mordin pulls a clean syringe out of a drawer and draws out a dose of the antidote. "Be ready." He warns as he sticks her with the needle, straight into a blackened vein in her arm, and injects the antidote._

_Silence reigns. For a few moments, nothing happens. Thoughts start to enter the mind: what if the antidote was wrong? What if it didn't work? What if it were something completely different?_

_For those few moments, no one says a word. Grips refasten once or twice, but no one moves from their spot. I study the dark color flowing up the _siha's_ arm. They'd almost reached her wrist. They are also crawling up her neck, reaching for her chin._

_Then, slowly, the color begins to rescind. The murky color dies down and begins pulling back up through the veins. _

_Then the screaming starts._

_Shepard lurches violently, nearly coming off the table. Then she lets out an ear-piercing scream and begins struggling in earnest._

_All of Shepard's strength seems to have returned at once. It has turned against us, causing her to flail as wildly as a frightened cat. I keep my hold on her arm, straining to keep her still. I can hear the grunts of the other three as they maintain their grips, but keep my eyes trained on the arm I've been given control over. _

_I cannot look at Kallie Shepard's face. I can hear her screaming, shrieking in pain like we were torturing her. It shatters my heart; I cannot bear the thought of causing my _siha _pain. _

_Then, just as suddenly as it starts, all movement stops._

_Slowly, I release my grip and look up at Shepard. She lies limp on the table, her eyes closed and her breathing uneven, just as shallow as before._

_The dark blue creeping upward through her veins is gone. Mordin's antidote has worked._

"Siha_? Are you all right?"_

_Shepard doesn't reply. She doesn't move. I gently lay my hand on her forehead. She shivers beneath my touch. She is frighteningly hot._

"_Antidote worked." Mordin voices my previous thoughts. "Must watch for overdose."_

_Chakwas herds Jack and Zaeed straight toward me. I must back up or they will plow right into me. She ushers us toward the exit. "Thank you for your assistance." She states. "Mordin and I will take it from here."_

_I open my mouth to argue. _I am not leaving _siha_. I will not leave her.

_The doctor catches my intentions and shakes her head. "No. Mordin and I can handle it from here. You need to rest, Thane. You will be the first EDI informs when Shepard is visitor-worthy. You have my word."_

_With that, she shoos me out of the medbay and shuts the door._

"_Come on, Lizard Man." Jack tosses her head toward the elevator. "Zaeed and Garrus convinced the others to go to the debriefing room so they don't break down the medbay doors."_

This is going to be a long day_, I think to myself._

_I do not show how worried I am. I straighten up, nod politely to the biotic, and follow her into the elevator._

**XXXXX**

"Thane?" A hand gently waved in front of Thane's face, catching his eyes and pulling him out of his thoughts. "Are you okay?"

Thane blinked, catching the hand invading his vision and rubbing it gently. He breathed a sigh of relief. _Siha _was still here. She was not on the brink of death. She was in his arms, where nothing could possibly harm her.

"I'm fine, _siha_." He replied, leaning back to look at her face.

She scrunched up her nose at him. "You're shaking."

Thane had no reply for this. He _was _shaking. That last memory had affected him more than he thought.

"Forgive me," He looked away. "I do not mean to deceive."

Kallie shifted in her place, wincing as she tried to pull herself up into a sitting position.

Thane clutched her shoulders, stilling her movement. "You should not be moving, _siha_."

"I've been in the same position for way too long." She replied. "And as incredibly comfortable as it was, I want to sit up."

Finally acquiescing, Thane sat up himself, holding an arm out for Kallie to pull herself up. When she was sitting up and comfortable, she looked back at Thane and sighed.

"What were you thinking about?" She asked. When Thane didn't reply, she cocked an eyebrow. "You weren't remembering what happened about five hours ago, were you?"

Thane reached up and caught a lock of Kallie's auburn hair. Twirling it around his fingers delicately, he locked eyes with his _siha_. "Not intentionally."

Kallie placed a hand gently on Thane's cheek. "Promise me that's the last time you'll wallow in that memory. Yes, it hurt. Yes, I'll probably panic about it later. But I'm not in pain anymore. Err… immediate, life-threatening pain."

Thane let out a chuckle, leaning forward and pressing his lips to Kallie's. "Very well, _siha_. For you, I shall think no more of it."

Kallie beamed.

"EDI," Thane called. "How long until we reach the Citadel?"

The small blue orb announcing EDI's presence popped up to Kallie's left. "We have approximately three more hours until arrival."

"Thank you." Thane nodded to the AI. When it disappeared he turned back to Kallie. "That means you have three more hours to sleep."

Uncertainty, mixed in with a little anxiety, welled up in Kallie's eyes.

"Humor me, _siha. _I will be here until you wake." Thane swore. "You have my word on it."

Kallie looked relieved. She slid carefully back down into the bed, and in minutes she slept peacefully, tucked carefully under Thane's chin.

**XXXXX**

**First in the **_**Saving **_**series, though it also happens to be my prompt for the week. The next one will be called **_**Saving Face**_**, and it will be about Kaidan's reunion with Shepard, and his reaction to her and Thane's relationship.**

**I'm also writing one called **_**Lucky Star**_**, which may or may not turn into a full-blown story.**

**This is all speculation, anyway. I say I'm going to write it, and I'm pretty close to finishing **_**Lucky Star**_**, but that doesn't mean I'm going to post it. I'm incredibly lazy.**

**Anyway, this was my first ShepardXThane. How'd I do?**

_**Amme Moto**_


End file.
